[freearchitecture] Semi-annual Free Architecture newsletter

[Steve Hall]

Hi all,

I'm winding my effort back up to release a set of Free tools for
AutoCAD focused on Architecture. Figured here was as good a place as
any to document it. (BTW, what does it take to establish a newsgroup?
Can find nothing in the nature of alt.architecture.free, alt.cad.free,
or alt.cad.linux.)

Graphic Standards
-----------------
Just wondering if anyone here has done research into CAD or Graphic
standards that are freely available on the web. Here in the US, we
have the A/E/C CADD Standard
(http://tsc.wes.army.mil/products/standards/aec/intro.asp), a unified
effort by several sectors of the US government, self-described as
"Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited".

AEC closely follows the National CAD Standard, a copyright work that
is available only for purchase and whose distribution is not Free.
(Isn't it odd that "standards" != "free" ?) Either way, I'm realizing
my project needs some sort of guidelines for drafting standards before
a lot of time is wasted creating blocks that don't conform to any.

Beyond Graphics
---------------
So I'm thinking about the total structure of my effort being:

o Standards (graphic)
o Application
o Library of Parts and Symbols
o Documentation

Most every office has fragments of each, I'm looking to consolidate a
Free and growing set. The kit of parts might be themed to allow for
different office standards, and variations of local or geographical
conventions. But the name of the parts might transcend. Who knows?

File Format
-----------
Ages ago, we tossed around the file format issue. I'm going to
standardize around AutoCAD v12 .DXF files, since even AutoCAD v2004
will read/write them ok:

 
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/item?siteID=123112&id=3067231&linkID=2475323

(Pathetically, this, too, relates to standards: the consideration of
backwards compatibility with proprietary software is now more critical
in an upgrade than any new feature or functionality offered. Oh, yeah,
did I mention the single new feature is a compressed file format that
obsoletes every previous version. "It's 30% faster!" Please.)

CAD Layer Names
---------------
It might be nice to enable every possible layer standard (see
References below) with every possible convention, but at this point,
I'm implementing a US-based standard system with an eye to other
possibilities or as code is donated. ;)

Utopian Building Information Model (BIM)... Not
-----------------------------------------------
There's a terrific explanation of the problem with design information
not scaling as linearly as a 3D model can:

  http://www.itcon.org/1997/2/paper.htm

(Look about 55% down at "4.9 Scale".) IMO, this is the single reason
why the BIM is not quite the glorious utopia. Design is non-linear,
and needed information resolution isn't really proven until the
project is completed. Which isn't to say modeling isn't a terrific
tool, just that we'll likely have room for 2D in the forseeable
future. AutoCAD's Architectural Desktop makes some attempts in v3.3 to
present information based on scale, and is customizable in this
fashion, but as a daily user, I still wonder how much building
information is being conveyed in so-called parametric modeling verses
how much the tool is simply a sophisticated graphics presentation.

Closing
-------
Well, this certainly didn't start out as a newsletter, but it
certainly has evolved into one. I suppose a semi-public place is a
better location to stash random ideas than on a private list. What's
that you say? A "blog"? Nope. Never heard of one.

CAD Standard References
-----------------------
o A/E/C CADD Standard
  (http://tsc.wes.army.mil/products/standards/aec/intro.asp)
o British Standards Institute (BSI) (http://bsonline.techindex.co.uk/)
o Construction Industry IT Standards Links
  (http://www.cica.org.uk/construction_IT_standards_links.html)
o International Organization for Standardization (ISO) ISO-13567
  (http://www.itcon.org/1997/2/paper.htm)
o National CAD Standard (http://www.nationalcadstandard.org)


-- 
Steve Hall  [ digitect at mindspring.com ]